For better or worse, the Columbus Blue Jackets stuck with the status quo despite a ridiculous amount of pressure to change. That hasn’t paid off much, but the team is showing some promise thanks to some expected players and a goalie who shouldn’t be a factor. Jeff Carter scored twice and Curtis Sanford allowed only one goal to give the Blue Jackets their first two-game winning streak since February 2010.

Carter now has three points in his last two games while Sanford earned both of those wins (and standings points in three straight starts, which is impressive for a team as unimpressive as Columbus). Better yet, the Blue Jackets are 3-1-1 in their last five, which is a nice enough streak that you can remove most of the “good for a team like Columbus … ” caveats.

And, hey, give Scott Howson credit for this much: Vinny Prospal is quietly one of the best free agent additions from the summer of 2011; he now has 18 points in 20 games.

This positive streak only places them at a league-worst 12 points, but this is generates sorely needed optimism. Check out the highlights below.

This is more like the team Columbus expected to have this season. They actually dont look that bad when healthy and a decent goalie in net.

bluesrawesome - Nov 22, 2011 at 12:24 AM

Is Nikita Niktian playing well for you guys I noticed he’s acumilated 4 assist with you guys and logs around 27 minutes of ice time but does he actully play good? And what do you Colombus fans think about him?

The whole team seems to have quite a bit of hustle.they have has it all year, just Mason was killing us. Which all in all is a shame, because when he was a rookie it looked like we had one of those goal tenders you could build a team around. I hope for his sake he finds what’s wrong and fixes it. Anyhoo, lots of hustle, specially from Germ. He was all over everyone on the ice. The team has been very physical this year, now they have someone in the net that can stop a puck every once in a while, seems to have given them a real mental boost. Hopefully its not too late for them this season.

govtminion - Nov 22, 2011 at 9:30 AM

The damage was probably done to them already for this year, but the recent competitive streak is a good sign- if they can build on this and use it to make them better next year (some decent drafting couldn’t hurt!), maybe the path to respect isn’t so far off after all. It’s good to see that an alternative to Mason has surprisingly popped up in Sanford though- whatever Mason’s potential was, he clearly has no confidence right now and the rest of the team is feeling that as well.

gtownmac - Nov 22, 2011 at 9:32 AM

As long as Mason isn’t in net, then they have a shot. Looks like this Nash/Carter line is going to put up some solid pointage